Latest Dream Theater News

Below is our complete Dream Theater news coverage, including columns and articles pertaining to the band. Some articles listed may be indirectly related, such as side projects of the band members, etc.

Note: We began associating news directly with bands in late 2003. Therefore, earlier band news may not be listed on this page.

"I spent a few days in London and guys... I've met a few very interesting people,, namely the original line-up of COMUS, one of my all time favourite bands. Me and my friend, Stefan Dimle (owner of the Mellotronen store) had dinner with them and I tell ya, it was amazing! Stefan is putting together a fantastic package for a upcoming gig, due to take place in March 2008 on a ferry cruise between Sweden and Finland. Comus will play on this boat for the first time since 1972! I'm still in shock!"

"I had Glen Goring play 'The Herald' in front of my fucking face! I can't believe it...there's a clip on Youtube that Stefan posted and I look like a grinning idiot! Wow! I have met Roger Wootton, my hero...the guy who've inspired me a 1000 times and more! I got a miniature boat as a gift from Bobbie Watson, who is probably one of the sweetest person I've ever met. I had Andy Hellaby insist on paying my beer after having slammed a copy of their ultra rare 7" single on the table before my eyes. I guess you cannot understand my excitement if you're not.....me."

"Later that day I met Pete French, for me legendary for his vocal work in bands like LEAFHOUND (also playing on the boat), ATOMIC ROOSTER and CACTUS. Perfect gentleman and he told some great stories too! As I went to bed, instead of my usual dreams about filthy sex I was dreaming about 7" Comus singles, Leafhound original LP's and the chance of hearing 'Diana" live! Dreams can come true...sorry for that fucking cliché...really, sorry!"

"Anyways, I had to share that with you."

"Also saw DREAM THEATER last night and they were great! Listening to.....'Songs Of experience' by David Axelrod! Great record! Playing Bioshock....great game! Melinda is now a big fan of KISS, and me and my wife have to listen to Dynasty maybe three-four times a day. I have nothing to do with it, she's just a fan...now, all of a sudden. Anyways, good choice I must say...we bought her a personal vinyl copy of the album so she can listen to it as much as she wants."

In October 1998, LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT - featuring DREAM THEATER's Mike Portnoy (drums) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards) alongside bass legend Tony Levin (KING CRIMSON, PETER GABRIEL) - reunited at Millbrook Studios in upstate New York to record their second album. According to a press release, "a few days into the sessions, John Petrucci's pregnant wife went into premature labor leaving Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess and Tony Levin stranded in an already set-up and booked recording studio. So like any creative and productive musicians would do, they decided to stay and JAM... and JAM they did!For some bizarre and still unexplained reason, the master tapes of these jams were misplaced during the mixing process. But, luckily, Portnoy records almost everything he ever does and as a result his live 2-track stereo DAT mixes are the only remaining traces of this historic jam. So what you have here is as live and raw as it gets. No overdubs, no editing, no mixing. Just three guys, their instruments and their spontaneous imaginations feeding off of each other."

The "historic jam" is being released under the moniker LIQUID TRIO EXPERIMENT. Titled Spontaneous Combustion, Magna Carta is releasing the album in Europe on October 22nd and in North America on the 23rd. The packaging is a limited edition Metallic Print DigiPak containing brand new liner notes by Mike Portnoy.

Swedish metallers OPETH will support DREAM THEATER on the prog-metal giants' next North American tour in April/May 2008. More details will be announced soon.

OPETH will release the "The Roundhouse Tapes" double CD in the U.S. on November 20 via Peaceville Records. The set will be issued in Europe on October 22.

The cover artwork for "The Roundhouse Tapes" has been posted at this location. According to a press release, "The Roundhouse Tapes" contains "a captivating OPETH performance from the Camden Roundhouse, London, UK, on November 9, 2006, and sees the band in scintillating form churning out a selection of classics from their illustrious career. You know what to expect from OPETH: unrivalled composition; seamless progressive dynamics and boundless atmosphere from the mellow to the incredibly heavy, all sealed with the unmistakable vocal presence of mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt." More...

DREAM THEATER have added one new date to the European leg of their Chaos In Motion World Tour 2007/2008. They will play Durango (Bilbao), Spain on November 4th. The band have also announced one select date in Tokyo, Japan on January 15th, 2008.

Magna Carta Records has set a September 12 release date for the new solo album from Jordan Rudess, entitled "The Road Home". Having been influenced by classic progressive acts such as GENESIS, YES and GENTLE GIANT, Rudess revisits some of the great songs from those bands with his own special Jordan Rudess touch. He is assisted on the CD by a great group of guests, such as Nick D'Virgilio (SPOCK'S BEARD), Kip Winger (WINGER), Rod Morgenstein (WINGER), Ed Wynne (OZRIC TENTACLES), Bumblefoot (GUNS N' ROSES), Marco Sfogli (JAMES LABRIE), Ricky Garcia (LAFEE) and several others.

Legendary Progressive Metal act DREAM THEATER is launching a North American summer headlining tour, kicking off July 24 in San Diego, CA. Joined by breakthrough Progressive Metal acts INTO ETERNITY and REDEMPTION, the tour will span throughout the U.S. and Canada. DREAM THEATER will be taking the headlining reigns, performing songs from their Roadrunner Records debut, "Systematic Chaos", as well as compositions from their genre-defining back catalogue. Their ninth studio album, "Systematic Chaos" was released on June 5 and has been received with solid critical and fan acclaim. The tour will further solidify the band's legendary technical prowess, capturing a time when the quartet have reached their artistic Zen.

DREAM THEATER has just released a music video for their first single, "Constant Motion". Directed by Andrew Bennett (DEFTONES, VAN HALEN, THE DRESDEN DOLLS), the video highlights a technically induced performance by the band coupled with an animated spin-off of the album cover art, created by Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH). The video is currently available for viewing on the Roadrunner Records' website.

London, England-based publisher Essential Works will release "Lifting Shadows – The Authorized Story of Dream Theater" in luxury format via the company's web site sometime before Christmas.

Please be aware that this book will not be available in high street shops or other online retailers. The book can ONLY be ordered via the Essential Works web site. The book is also being produced in a special, limited-edition format which obviously means that stocks are not endless.

"Lifting Shadows" is being produced because of the fans' support. As a special added thank you, it has been agreed with the publishers that for a limited time, those fans who order soon will get their names printed in the book in a special "Roll Of Honor" section at the rear of the "Images" book. This offer will be open until midnight GMT on August 31. After that time, you will still be able to order the books, but your name will not appear.

"Lifting Shadows" will be printed in a deluxe "Images and Words" limited-edition version that includes a free CD of DREAM THEATER music. This limited edition comprises two hardback books that are held together in a slipcase. It is likely that the book cover will be designed by legendary rock artist Hugh Syme.

The first of these books is entitled "Images" and is crammed with color photos of the band, previously unseen/unused album artwork, letters, press releases and a host of other memorabilia. "Images" is printed on luxury 130gsm art paper, measures 234 x 197mm and has around 192 pages.

The second book, "Words", contains the definitive biography of the band. It is printed on 80gsm paper, measures 234 x 153mm and has around 384 pages. The book features all new interviews with the band and a host of others who have played their part in the rise of one of prog-metal's finest bands. The book's foreword has been written by DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy.

The material on the CD has been compiled by Mike Portnoy from his personal archives and contains the following tracks:

Into Eternity has issued the following report prior to embarking on tour with Dream Theater:

"Our drummer Steve flew in from Boston last week so we could start heavy rehearsals for the Dream Theater Tour. Everything is going well and the set is going smoothly. I think we will have around 35 minutes for a set, so we hope everybody will come early, because we are opening this tour!"

"We also have a couple of new off dates booked, so I hope we'll see everyone out at those as well. On August 15th the side date is with the band Daath and August 19th we are playing with Nile. Those should be some interesting shows. Hopefully we'll be heavy enough for those gigs....ha. We will see you all very soon on the road."

Here are the latest Into Eternity tour dates according to the band's website: More...

A 15-minute audio interview with Mike Portnoy, conducted by Norway's Metal Express Radio (web site) in England the day before the band's appearance at the Download festival, has been posted online at metalexpressradio.com

DREAM THEATER's new album, "Systematic Chaos", has sold 61,000 copies in the United States since its June 5 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

An interview with DREAM THEATER vocalist James LaBrie, conducted on June 16, 2007 at Museumsufer in Bonn, Germany, has been posted at YouTube. DREAM THEATER celebrated the 15-year anniverary of its classic 1992 album "Images and Words" by performing the LP in its entirety at Museumsufer in Bonn.

DREAM THEATER previously played the entire "Images and Words" album on Day Two of the Gods Of Metal festival on June 3 in Italy.

DREAM THEATER's new album, "Systematic Chaos", was released June 5 in simultaneous standard and special editions.More...

In an interview with OzProg, vocalist James LaBrie has announced that a Dream Theatre tour of Australia is almost confirmed. The band is currently touring through Europe, and James had this to say on the subject:

I can tell you that with almost 100% certainty that we will be coming there this tour. They're talking about doing four or five shows, and our booking agent is in touch with a promoter over there, one of the bigger ones that are really excited to bring us over, so it's just a matter of finding the time that we can get in there and do it.

In other news, Dream Theatre's keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, will be making an appearance on Melbourne metal radio show Screaming Symphony, and will discuss the new album Systematic Chaos, and more. Tune in to PBS 106.7 FM in Melbourne at 10pm on Tuesday the 12th of June to hear the interview, or stream the show live from here.

Dream Theater's brand new album Systematic Chaos hits stores TOMORROW. Because of all of the excitement around its release, Roadrunner UK's Jim Tattersall sat down to interview James LaBrie. Part I is available HERE and Part II will be out on Thursday.

Behold...The Arctopus is currently hard at work in the studio recording their first full-length album, "Skullgrid". Almost all the tracking has been completed and the band is very excited about the way the album is sounding. "Skullgrid" will contain 7 new tracks and and will feature guest solos by Mick Barr (Orthrelm, Octis, Ocrilim) and Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater). More album details will be revealed soon.

An e-card for DREAM THEATER's upcoming CD, "Systematic Chaos", has been made available at this location. There are plenty of ants to entertain you, plus some truly spectacular desktop wallpaper, AIM icons, and banners. Plus Roadrunner Records has loaded it with "The Dark Eternal Night" in-studio video and two tracks from the album.

"Systematic Chaos" will be released June 5 in simultaneous standard and special editions. You can pre-order now from F.Y.E. or follow the link to purchase in the e-card.

DREAM THEATER will be IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests on Saturday, May 26 during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio show, aptly named "Rock Show". Listen to the program live via the Internet between 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. (midnight) U.K. time (between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. EST) at BBC.co.uk.